Friday, December 18, 1998

Impeachment begins as bombings resume

By JOHN DIAMONDAssociated Press WriterWASHINGTON — U.S. and British warplanes encountered little resistance
from Iraqi forces in the first two days of airstrikes. The Pentagon readied
a third round of attacks today as the House began a historic debate over
whether President Clinton should be impeached.

Cruise missiles and warplanes struck at a "wide spectrum" of targets
for a second night in a row, hitting anti-aircraft missile sites, Republican
Guard units and military command and control headquarters, said a senior
military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The good news is, everyone is back safe," the officer said of the pilots
undertaking the latest rounds of strikes in "Operation Desert Fox."

National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said in an interview that the
airstrikes will not necessarily end this weekend with the beginning of
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"That is not an automatic deadline," Berger said.

Addressing his people for the first time since the airstrikes began
early Thursday, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said: "Continue your resistance
and, by God's will, you will be victorious. You are representing justice
and all the great characteristics against injustice."

Saddam's rhetoric contrasted with the light resistance being put up
by Iraqi forces in the face of air strikes that U.S. officials said would
continue for a third day today.

Anti-American protests erupted

Local jobless rate little changed

From Staff and Wire Reports

Texas reached its lowest November unemployment rate in 18 years, the
Texas Workforce Commission said on Thursday, even though jobless rates
in West Texas and the state as a whole were virtually unchanged from their
October levels.

The state's unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point from
4.6 percent in October to 4.5 percent in November.

Like the state as a whole, Reeves County also saw a one-tenth of a percent
drop in is adjusted unemployment rate from October, but the number of people
without jobs in the county remains above 12 percent.

The local workforce and the number of jobless both dropped in November,
with 842 people out of work in a 6,779-person labor force, for a 12.4 percent
unemployment rate.

That's well above last November's rate of 7.8 percent, but that's due
mainly to a rise in the local labor force, which included only 6,314 workers
a year ago. The number of jobs in Reeves County has grown by 115 since
last year, to 5,937, though that number is down from 6,005 in October,
due in part to the end of the 1998 harvest season.

Other area counties also saw little change in their rates. Ward County's
jobless rate fell from 10 to 9.9 percent, Pecos County was down from 7.4
to 7.3 percent, Ector County was unchanged a 7.3 percent, while Midland
County showed a slight increase, from 4.5 to 4.6 percent.

Presidio County continued to have the area's highest unemployment rate,
at 29.8 percent, up from 29.2 in October and 27.1 percent a year ago.

Of the 25 Texas counties declared eligible for disaster relief funding
as a result of the fall's floods, only seven experienced a rise in unemployment
rate from October to November. Of those, only DeWitt and Goliad showed
a significant increases of 1.2 and 0.7 percentage points respectively.

November's lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the Bryan-College
Station area at 1.7 percent.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area saw the highest unemployment rate
at 17.2 percent in November, followed by Brownsville-Harlingen-San Benito
at 11.3 percent.

Rates of unemployment in the urban areas of Texas as announced by the
TWC for November, compared with revised October figures (in parentheses)
were:

Drug task force awaits grant approval

By ROSIE FLORESStaff Writer

Permian Basin Drug Task Force organizers have submitted an application
for a grant to continue their war against drugs.

The new organization being formed, will bear the same name as the old
one, but will be comprised of different members. The Permian Basin Drug
Task Force _ Reeves County will take over where the old one left off.

So far four counties and three cities have agreed to join the Permian
Basin Drug Task Force _ Reeves County. Included are Reeves, Culberson,
Ward and Winkler counties, along with the cities of Pecos, Monahans and
Kermit.

The Pecos-based task force would replace the Permian Basin Drug Task
Force that was headquartered in Odessa, but which was not funded by the
state for the current fiscal year. Several other area counties have gone
with a task force organized by the Department of Public Safety, although
the two task forces will cooperate.

The primary goal of the force is to fill in the gap in curtailing the
flow of drugs on the interstate highways traveling through the areas served
by the task force and to provide undercover operations to the local agencies
participating in the new group.

"We met with the Criminal Justice Department Tuesday, and they issued
a preliminary report," said Pecos Police Chief Clay McKinney, who was joined
by Reeves County Sheriff Andy Gomez and 143rd District Attorney Randall
Reynolds.

McKinney stated the preliminary report indicated that they needed clarification
on some items and needed some other documents.

"We are in the process of gathering that information for them and sending
them in," said McKinney. "We're hoping to hear from them soon after we
send off the additional information."

A board of directors made up of sheriffs and police chiefs from the
participating agencies will be formed and another committee made up of
community members and leaders will be on an advisory board, according to
McKinney.

"This will also create some jobs in the community," he said.

The grant for the force is fully funded until May 31, 1999 and will
serve over 180,000 people. There will be 15 officers on the force in the
nine counties.

The task force will actively pursue forfeiture of the drug dealer's
assets, but primarily as a tool to reduce the drug dealers' assets.

"We hope to take more drugs off the street of Pecos and we will still
have the local city task force," said McKinney.

Council plans second reading of new curfew

Pecos City Council will consider on second reading Monday an ordinance
to change curfew hours for juveniles from midnight to 10 p.m. on weeknights
and from 1 a.m. to midnight on weekends.

The change was adopted on first reading in the last regular council
meeting, in response to a request from the committee on gang intervention.
Councilman Ricky Herrera proposed the 10 p.m. curfew, stating that children
under the age of 17 should be home by that time on school nights.

Other agenda items for discussion and/or action in the Monday afternoon
meeting include:

* Municipal telephone system;

* Easement on the M.C. Martinez property for disposal of sewer effluent;

* Second reading of ordinance placing four-way stop signs at Second
and Locust Streets;

* Interlocal agreement between the city and Reeves County for fire protection;

* Interlocal agreement between the city and Reeves County Hospital for
ambulance service billing and collections;

* Renew contract with Reeves County for housing prisoners in exchange
for dispatching services.

The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall.
The meeting was moved up from the regular Thursday date due to the Christmas
holidays.

Fire destroys cotton picker south of town

Pecos Volunteer Firemen used "wet water" to extinguish a cotton fire in
a picker on the Randy Taylor farm south of Pecos Thursday night, said Chief
Roy Pena.

The picker, owned by Lupe Arguillin from the Rio Grande Valley, was
destroyed, Pena said.

Wet water is a soap that firemen use on fires fueled by such products
as cotton and alfalfa, where water is not effective, he said.

The picker was half full of cotton, and the fire ruined the picker,
engine "and everything," he said.

Firemen were dispatched to the scene 25 miles south of Pecos at 8:30
p.m. Thursday.

Hot check writers head up indictments

By PEGGY McCRACKENStaff Writer

A woman who allegedly papered the city of Pecos with hot checks shortly
after her birthday in mid-October was among 10 persons indicted Thursday
by the Reeves County Grand Jury.

Two of the checks were for more than $500, while the others were between
$20 and $500, the indictment alleges. Because they were part of one scheme
and a continuing course of conduct, the total of $1,500 to $20,000 involved
makes the violation a felony, according to the indictment.

Her bail is $10,000.

Two persons were indicted for forgery of checks written on the account
of Pecos Tire and Fuel and purportedly signed by Clay Taylor.

George Fierro Natividad, 18, is charged with possessing a forged check
in the amount of $173.52 on Aug. 12. The payee was Samuel Hernandez.

Francisco Mendoza Gonzales, 17, is charged with passing a forged check
to A&N Finance on Aug. 20, in the amount of $256. The payee was Robert
Saenz.

Bail for each defendant is $10,000.

Tammy Michelle Williams, 24, is charged with passing a forged check
in the amount of $100 to Bob's Thriftway on Aug. 8. The check was purportedly
signed by Mandy Jenkins.

Rowdy Curry, 34, is charged with possession of heroin on Oct. 7. His
bail is $10,000.

Juan Carlos Flores, 34, is charged with resisting arrest on Oct. 15.
Pecos Police Patrolman Billy Hull was attempting to arrest Flores when
the incident occurred. His bail is $7,500.

San Ignacio Chavez, 19, is charged with burglary of a habitation owned
by Oscar Gonzales. Chavez allegedly took a VCR and Home Video tapes without
Gonzales' consent.

Oscar Quezada Hernandez, 27, was indicted for driving while intoxicated
on Oct. 24. He had previously been convicted of DWI in 1990 and 1992.

His bail is $ $5,000, with the condition that he not drive a vehicle
unless it is equipped with a breath analysis device that can detect alcohol
and prevent its operation.

Jerry Wayne Crisp Jr. is charged with criminal mischief on Oct. 31 by
pushing a vehicle into a residence at 501 S. Willow St.

His bail is $15,000, with the conditions that he stay away from Toyah
Walker and not consume alcoholic beverages.

PHA board to get CIAP update, audit report

Pecos Housing Authority Board members will receive a CIAP 96 update and
will review or approve the audit report for fiscal year ending Dec. 31
in their regular meeting on Monday.

The board will meet at 5 p.m., Monday at the PHA/FLH, Administration
Office, 600 Meadowbrook Drive.

Board members will review and approve the annual report 1998; maintenance
wage rate increases for period beginning in January and discuss or approve
employee's annual bonus for fiscal year 1998.

Also on the agenda will be a discussion on whether to turn over to Tenant
Tracker several individuals for collection losses fiscal year 1998. The
following tenants are on the list to be sent to the collection agency:
Wanda Capriotti, $312; Yvonne Fuentez, $181; Angela Lara, $169; Lori Lopez,
$287; Rebecca Maldonado, $413; Belinda Martinez, $64; Amelia Montes, $205;
Hector and Diane Morales, $535; Cynthia Parks, $204 and Maria Patino $835.

Druggist bust

Former Pecosite headlocks pharmacy burglar

Elsie Daniel and her son, Dan, have "had a lot of fun" over his recent
capture of a burglar in his Carrollton pharmacy.

Daniel, 48, tackled the man in dark clothing who sledgehammered his
way into the Trinity Pharmacy on Dec. 2 for the eighth time.

"I would have been scared and probably would have run," said Mrs. Daniel,
who works at Dan Daniel Music and Video with another son, Ronny.

Dan was a quarterback for the Pecos Eagles while in high school in the
late 60s, then played four years for Angelo State before going to pharmacy
school, Mrs. Daniel said. He used that expertise to tackle the burglar
and put a headlock on him.

"I realized it was now or never," Daniel told the Dallas Morning News.
"I just jumped on him, and we wrestled for a while before I got him under
control. I didn't give him much of a chance."

Tired of the burglar's drug thefts every few months, which had cost
him about $10,000 in window repairs and lost medicine, Daniel had spent
the night in the pharmacy more than once, trying to catch him.

This time, he was working late in his chemical-mixing lab when he accidentally
set off the burglar alarm and notified police that it was a false alarm.
Then he heard the front window break and knew the ski-masked burglar he
had seen on surveillance tape seven times previously had returned.